Hello! I'm a newbie here with my first saltwater aquarium. I'm a few months in and thought things had been going great, but now I'm not so sure.
For some background, I have a brand new 29 gallon tank. I let it cycle for about 6 weeks. I was getting zero ammonia readings by about 4 weeks, but let it go another 2 just to be sure. The only oddity is that I was never getting nitrate readings. Ammonia would briefly increase shortly after adding some food, then drop back to 0. No ammonia, no nitrites, no nitrates. I started with a pair of ocellaris clowns. For a cleanup crew, I have 2 peppermint shrimp, 5 small hermit crabs, and two recently added cerinth snails. I lost the first few snails I tried to add, but I think I was too impatient in acclimating them. I was more patient with the newest two, and they seem to be doing well when I actually see them. Those first few snails are the only casualties I've had. Things were quite stable for a solid 4 weeks, so I decided to add 2 bangai cardinal fish. While I had them in quarantine, I started seeing a few low-level ammonia readings that weren't going down on their own. I did water changes and added a dose of ammonia detoxifier to be safe. I added the cardinal fish about a week ago. My ammonia readings have continued to slowly increase. I had been doing weekly 25% water changes. With the increasing ammonia, I've switched to 50% water changes, but ammonia levels continue their slow crawl upwards. I know that the detoxifier doesn't remove ammonia, just makes it safe for the fish until it can be removed by the biological filter, but my bio filter either isn't removing it, or isn't removing it fast enough. I'm also now seeing some low levels of nitrites and nitrates popping up. I've even been adding doses of those bacterial starter cultures, and stuffed all the excess space in my filters with ammonia-specific filter floss, but they don't seem to make any difference I can see.
Some specs- 29 gallon tank, fish only with live rock, no corals.
2 filters, one HOB and one canister. Each rated for 30 gallons.
About 15 pounds of live rock (I know this is low. I've been slowly increasing it as my budget allows. I added another 2 pounds or so of cultured live rock with the cardinalfish. From the LFS, never left out of water. I also added a few dead rocks hoping to culture them along the way).
I also started with bagged, supposedly live sand. About 2-3 inches on the bottom.
Temp always consistent at 78 degrees F
Latest API ammonia reading was 2 ppm, but I have that little badge that is supposed to measure as well showing ~0.2 ppm. I don't know which to believe.
Specific gravity about 1.023 at last reading. Never outside of the 1.022 to 1.024 range.
pH about 8.3
I feed a variety of small pellets, newly hatched live baby brine shrimp, and frozen. I feel like I'm being careful about how much I feed. To the point that I worry about my clean up crew having enough to eat. With the pellets, I feed just a few at a time. The clowns won't eat them off the ground, so I never allow more than 2-3 tiny pellets to get past them (and the shrimp are usually on them pretty quickly). With the frozen cubes, I feed just a couple droppers worth. The clowns and shrimp know what the dropper is and come to it so I can feed them pretty directly. The cardinalfish are still wary of it, so I have been a bit more messy with feeding to make sure they're getting some. The only food I feel I could be over doing is the live baby brine shrimp. I have a little hatchery that I use. To feed, I suck them up with the dropper, turn off the filters and powerhead for a few minutes, and drop them in. The clowns and cardinalfish absolutely love them, and I enjoy watching them eat them. They're so tiny that I feed quite a bit, but they are always all but gone to the eye within 10 minutes or so, when I turn the filters and powerhead back on.
The fish are all bright, active, and have great appetites, but I'm worried that's going to change very soon with this downward spiral. They don't seem to be breathing heavily to me, but I admit the few videos I've watched to try and distinguish normal from heavy don't seem all that different to me. I've gotten rather attached to my little clownfish. Any advice or thoughts on what else I can try would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
For some background, I have a brand new 29 gallon tank. I let it cycle for about 6 weeks. I was getting zero ammonia readings by about 4 weeks, but let it go another 2 just to be sure. The only oddity is that I was never getting nitrate readings. Ammonia would briefly increase shortly after adding some food, then drop back to 0. No ammonia, no nitrites, no nitrates. I started with a pair of ocellaris clowns. For a cleanup crew, I have 2 peppermint shrimp, 5 small hermit crabs, and two recently added cerinth snails. I lost the first few snails I tried to add, but I think I was too impatient in acclimating them. I was more patient with the newest two, and they seem to be doing well when I actually see them. Those first few snails are the only casualties I've had. Things were quite stable for a solid 4 weeks, so I decided to add 2 bangai cardinal fish. While I had them in quarantine, I started seeing a few low-level ammonia readings that weren't going down on their own. I did water changes and added a dose of ammonia detoxifier to be safe. I added the cardinal fish about a week ago. My ammonia readings have continued to slowly increase. I had been doing weekly 25% water changes. With the increasing ammonia, I've switched to 50% water changes, but ammonia levels continue their slow crawl upwards. I know that the detoxifier doesn't remove ammonia, just makes it safe for the fish until it can be removed by the biological filter, but my bio filter either isn't removing it, or isn't removing it fast enough. I'm also now seeing some low levels of nitrites and nitrates popping up. I've even been adding doses of those bacterial starter cultures, and stuffed all the excess space in my filters with ammonia-specific filter floss, but they don't seem to make any difference I can see.
Some specs- 29 gallon tank, fish only with live rock, no corals.
2 filters, one HOB and one canister. Each rated for 30 gallons.
About 15 pounds of live rock (I know this is low. I've been slowly increasing it as my budget allows. I added another 2 pounds or so of cultured live rock with the cardinalfish. From the LFS, never left out of water. I also added a few dead rocks hoping to culture them along the way).
I also started with bagged, supposedly live sand. About 2-3 inches on the bottom.
Temp always consistent at 78 degrees F
Latest API ammonia reading was 2 ppm, but I have that little badge that is supposed to measure as well showing ~0.2 ppm. I don't know which to believe.
Specific gravity about 1.023 at last reading. Never outside of the 1.022 to 1.024 range.
pH about 8.3
I feed a variety of small pellets, newly hatched live baby brine shrimp, and frozen. I feel like I'm being careful about how much I feed. To the point that I worry about my clean up crew having enough to eat. With the pellets, I feed just a few at a time. The clowns won't eat them off the ground, so I never allow more than 2-3 tiny pellets to get past them (and the shrimp are usually on them pretty quickly). With the frozen cubes, I feed just a couple droppers worth. The clowns and shrimp know what the dropper is and come to it so I can feed them pretty directly. The cardinalfish are still wary of it, so I have been a bit more messy with feeding to make sure they're getting some. The only food I feel I could be over doing is the live baby brine shrimp. I have a little hatchery that I use. To feed, I suck them up with the dropper, turn off the filters and powerhead for a few minutes, and drop them in. The clowns and cardinalfish absolutely love them, and I enjoy watching them eat them. They're so tiny that I feed quite a bit, but they are always all but gone to the eye within 10 minutes or so, when I turn the filters and powerhead back on.
The fish are all bright, active, and have great appetites, but I'm worried that's going to change very soon with this downward spiral. They don't seem to be breathing heavily to me, but I admit the few videos I've watched to try and distinguish normal from heavy don't seem all that different to me. I've gotten rather attached to my little clownfish. Any advice or thoughts on what else I can try would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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